Twisted Fate
by Fire Red Fox Queen
Summary: Shirogane, a former king, is now living out his days as a peasant ever since his lover was murdered and he was exiled from his own castle. He comes across Akira, a thief, and mistakenly believes that he is Ryuuko. Chaos is sure to follow... Not as goofy as it sounds from the last sentence, medievalish AU.
1. Prologue

It's short, a bit rushed, and probably OOC, but I wanted to try this out. Not even sure where I'm going with it yet. The name will probably be changed later, but for now, it's the best I've got. Um, lesse. It's a medieval-type AU. Not quite medieval, but you get my point. Tell me what you think and I'll see if I should continue.

Warning: Shounen-ai (do I even really have a need to say this?)

Disclaimer: I have no relation to Monochrome Factor, except for my fangirl moments.

* * *

Shirogane backed up slowly, his mouth covered with one slim hand as he stared in horror at Ryuuko's still form laying in a pool of blood. Who had done this? The smell of blood was making Shirogane sick, and he retched dry heaves, coughing and sobbing miserably. He stumbled as he ran from the body that used to be his lover. He was ashamed, but he just couldn't handle the sight. It was a nightmare, it had to be! Ryuuko couldn't have died!

As Shirogane turned a corner, he spotted the familiar shape of Homurabi at the end of the grand hall. He almost shouted out, but was choked into silence when Homurabi threw his head back and laughed a horrible laugh. It was full of menace, there was no mistaking it. There was also no mistaking the blood splattered all over the man's face.

A soft whimper escaped Shirogane, then rage took over. "HOMURABI!" he roared with anger. "Did you kill Ryuuko?"

Homurabi turned in amused surprise. "Ah, Shirogane! You came just in time. I was about to come and find you."

"Answer me!" Shirogane demanded, hoping he was wrong. Wishing more than anything that he was wrong.

"Yes, I killed your lover. You see, I don't really like the way that you've been leading the kingdom as of late. So I figured that if you and Ryuuko were out of the way, I would be able to claim the throne," Homurabi answered calmly, as if he was describing a play. His tongue darted out to lick some of the blood lingering at the corner of his mouth.

It was the breaking point for Shirogane. The silver-haired man drew the slim sword that always hung at his side and charged the former comrade. He screamed unintelligibly as he ran, a red haze taking over his thought. All he could see was that cocky look on Homurabi's face and Ryuuko's twisted body.

Homurabi dodged the attack with ease, looking amused at Shirogane's rage. "I would have thought that you could fight better than this. I've always been under the impression that you were the best fencer in the country."

"Shut up!" Shirogane growled, an ugly hate shining in his sapphire eyes.

Homurabi ignored the warning and kept gloating as Shirogane's desperate attacks were easily avoided time and again. "Don't tell me that it's because I killed your precious lover?"

"Shut up!"

"It really is amazing how losing something important can change a person."

"SHUT UP!"

Shirogane's blade buried itself into the wall of the hallway, just missing Homurabi's vulnerable neck by inches. Panic began to set in once Shirogane realized that he couldn't pull his sword free. He yanked on it desperately once before a powerful hand smashed itself hard onto his skull, threatening to crush it completely.

He froze, knowing that he was at the mercy of Homurabi. At least he would be with Ryuuko soon enough. He closed his eyes in defeat and waited for the final blow.

A harsh shove pushed Shirogane away. He was surprised, so he couldn't keep his balance and ended up falling hard on the marble floor. His confused gaze met Homurabi's cold, cruel gaze. It was a stark difference from just moments ago. Now Homurabi looked completely serious.

"Killing you is a mercy and you don't deserve the kindness. Now you can taste the despair of losing everything important to you and live with it the rest of your life. From now on, you are exiled from this castle. And if you ever come near here again, I'll kill you." A shadow passed over Homurabi's face, making it resemble a demon's.

It was too much for the distraught Shirogane. He leapt to his feet and ran from the castle, not looking back once.


	2. A Few Years Later: The Meeting

-A few years later-

"Why is it I'm the only one doing any work?" Aya asked angrily as she slammed her hands down on the table.

Akira chose not to answer and Kengo was too busy sleeping to notice. A vein popped, and Aya buried an armored hand in Kengo's head. "Ow, what the hell?" Kengo yelped as he fell off his stool.

The other customers of the pub turned to watch the odd scene. A girl wearing rare samurai armor picking a fight with an unnaturally blonde-haired boy wearing metal armor on his arms and a brown-haired boy with grey eyes just watching on silently, as if this happened everyday. It certainly didn't happen often for the other onlookers.

"You're just sleeping all the time, and you," she said, pointing accusingly at Akira, "you just complain that it's boring to ste-"

"Aya." Akira warned quietly. Only then did Aya realize that they weren't alone.

Glancing behind her, she noticed all the staring people. "You looking at something?" she challenged, blushing at her near slip-up. Everyone else turned back around, acting as if they were never watching in the first place. "That's what I thought," she muttered as she sat down.

Akira laughed mockingly. "Give it away to everyone here," he whispered, leaning forward on the table.

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't yell at you if actually helped me occasionally," Aya complained. "Do you know how hard it was for me to fight all those guards myself? And that chubby little noble barely had a cent on him! We need to move on. They're getting too cautious in this area already."

"Fine," Akira sighed. "I was getting bored of this place anyway."

"So where are we going next?" Kengo asked loudly, excited. His two companions just gave him a disgusted look and didn't answer. "Aw, come on. Don't ignore me!"

* * *

The trio walked down the dusty footpath that led to a tiny village out in the middle of nowhere. It wasn't going to provide them very much money, but it would have to do for the night. The next city was about a full day's journey from the village, and it was already almost sundown.

Still, it wasn't going to make a difference if they couldn't make any money to stay in an inn for the night. If they didn't have any money, it would just be better to camp outside, and that was dangerous.

There weren't very many people up and walking in the streets. As they neared the village, more started to appear, but there weren't any who would get them any money.

And then, suddenly, the perfect target. He had long silver hair tied back in a braid and he was walking with a cane, so probably an old man, making him an easy victim. Better yet, the man was wearing expensive clothes. If nothing else, that jacket itself had to be worth a night's stay at a hotel.

Akira pointed the man out, roughly elbowing Kengo in the side. Kengo got the hint instantly and swiftly but inconspicuously made his way towards the target. Upon reaching him, the teen made good use of his loud mouth and struck up a conversation.

The other was so distracted that he didn't notice that Kengo was herding him in slightly different direction than he was originally going. The new path was slowly leading the victim into a darkened alley, the perfect place for an ambush.

Akira silently praised Kengo. So that kid did have his moments of usefulness every now and again! He motioned to Aya and she nodded in acknowledgement before running off. Akira turned and went in the opposite direction, already thinking of how nice it was going to be to sleep in a hotel room.

* * *

Shirogane politely listened to the blonde-haired kid ramble on and on, but he really just wanted to get back to the Bar Still. Master really needed him back at any second with the groceries (which Shirogane hadn't gotten a chance to buy yet, thanks to a certain someone), and Shirogane just wasn't in the mood for pleasantries. He forced himself to remain polite, however. It wouldn't help anything if Shirogane got agitated.

"And the fish tasted delicious! It was the biggest damn fish you ever saw, too."

"I'm sure," Shirogane replied, his smile quickly deteriorating. "Look, that's all interesting, but..." He trailed off when he realized that they no longer within anyone's view. If something happened now, there would be no one around to see it. That was just as well, but it would take up more time. "But I really must be getting back. I have things I need to attend to."

He turned to leave, but suddenly found a blade pressed lightly into the soft skin of his throat. "We can't let you do that," a female's voice threatened softly and the blade sunk in deeper. There was a sharp pain as the sword drew a thin line of blood.

Dammit. So that brat wasn't working on his own, huh? He scowled as the blonde came to stand next to his black-haired friend. "Alright, give us all of your money," the girl said. "I want to be able to get some decent food tonight." She sounded bored. How insulting.

There wasn't anyone behind him now, so Shirogane leaped backwards. He was careful to lean his neck back as he did, so he wouldn't end up cutting his own head off. Before the two thieves had a chance to regain their composure, Shirogane hit the switch on the side of the handle of his cane, releasing his sword from its sheath.

Both of the kids looked surprised, which made Shirogane chuckle a bit. A spark of interest lit in the young girl's eyes and she altered her stance, ready for a duel.

"A hidden blade? How interesting," she said, a dangerous smile crossing her face.

She darted forward and Shirogane moved to block her blade. They clashed and pushed apart. Shirogane was surprised to find that her attacks were strangely powerful, but they weren't strong enough.

The girl's arm overextended when she tried to lash out at Shirogane and he dodged past her, turning and clubbing her in the back of her head with the handle of his sword. She dropped with a sharp cry. Her friend finally decided to join in the fight.

Shirogane wasn't ready for his sudden charge and almost didn't block the metal hand that came flying at his face. He pushed the attack off with difficulty and backed up cautiously.

* * *

Akira sighed in annoyance as he saw Aya go down. Jeez. For that girl to be beaten by an old man... Kengo rushed in to help her, the idiot. If Aya was defeated, then the blonde teen didn't have a chance.

He ran a hand through raven colored hair and materialized his curved twin blades. He better go and help those two.

The silver-haired man didn't notice Akira approaching at first thanks to Kengo's constant attacking.

Then blue eyes darted away for a second, maybe catching a shift in the shadows, maybe just out of instinct, but they lit on Akira and the man froze.

"Ryu-?" he started to say. But before he could finish, Kengo's fist collided with his skull.

Kengo pumped a triumphant fist into the air. "Yes! I beat him!"

"It's such an amazing feat to beat an old man," Akira said sarcastically.

"Hey, Akira," Kengo waved. "I knocked him unconscious. We can take his money now."

"Yeah. Aya," he said, planting a soft kick in the girl's side. "Wake up."

She groaned as her eyes fluttered open. "Where have you been?" she asked accusingly. Akira chose to ignore the question and advanced on the still man on the ground. He seemed to recognize Akira in that moment before he was knocked out. What was he about to say?


	3. Bar Still

"Damn that greasy linens merchant," Aya growled, pointedly counting the pieces of gold in her hand. "He skimped out on the payment. That jacket was worth more than this chump change!"

"We should've taken that sword, too," Kengo put in. "Then we could've each had seperate rooms and a warm meal tonight."

Aya punched Kengo in the head. "No! That guy was obviously an experienced fighter when it came to wielding a sword. It's considered dishonorable to steal a weapon from a man like him. Besides, we just left him in a back alley. He needed some way to defend himself when he woke up, otherwise he'd run into trouble like us again."

Akira didn't bother to join in the conversation or even listen to it. He trailed along behind the other two, thinking about the look on that silver-haired guy's face. It was like he recognized Akira. Could it be that he knew Akira? The brown-haired teen kicked at the dirt road in annoyance and shook the thought from his mind. It didn't matter. The only thing that Akira needed to care about was finding a place to stay for the night.

Coincidentally, his grey eyes found a wooden inn called the Bar Still. The place seemed pretty quiet and didn't look too ritzy, but still looked clean enough. Perfect, as long as it wasn't too expensive.

"Hey guys, let's stay at this place," Akira called. Aya and Kengo had already walked past the place and had to turn around.

"Akira, you gotta say these things earlier," Kengo said. "We passed up this place before you said anything."

"Do you have any complaints, dog?" Akira asked, an ominous aura surrounding him. He loomed over Kengo, who shrank away and muttered a barely audible "No."

"Good. Come on, Aya."

"Hey wait up, guys!"

When they stepped into the inn, it was even more deserted than Akira first thought. The only person in view was a barkeeper wiping a glass.

The barkeeper's head came up when he noticed their approach, but his eyes remained closed. Was he blind?

"Hello, and welcome to the Bar Still," the dark-haired man greeted. "I'm afraid that there's not much to eat around here. My assistant went to go get some food, but he's not back yet."

"It's fine," Akira cut in before Kengo could open his mouth to complain. "We're just looking for a couple of rooms tonight."

"There's plenty of them open, but they're five silvers each."

"That's it?" Aya asked. It was rare to find them that cheap recently.

"Yes."

"Hey, why don't you have any customers?" Kengo asked, voicing the question that everyone was curious about.

The barkeep frowned slightly before replying. "Lately, any tenats have been chased away from the royal family's dark army."

"Dark army?" Aya asked, leaning forward in sudden interest.

"Yes. Have you ever heard of Kokuchis?"

"No," Akira said, pulling up a stool and settling himself at the counter, willing to listen to the barkeeper's story.

"That's not entirely surprising, I suppose," the raven-haired man said. "They weren't very active before Hamurabi's coup. He killed the previous king and put himself on the throne. Before his rule, the Kokuchis weren't needed and were only kept around to make sure that forces were on hand in case of a sudden war. Once Hamurabi took over, he has allowed the Kokuchis to run wild, and they have been antagonizing this area recently."

"I see," Aya sighed, running a hand through her black hair. "We haven't had been within the the kingdom for five years, so we didn't even know about the about the old leader getting overthrown. Figures that something like this would happen while we were gone."

Kengo chose that moment to yawn, unconciously stopping Aya before she revealed anything else. "Hey Akira, I'm tired. Can't we get our rooms now?"

"Yeah." Akira stood up and slapped a few coins onto the wooden counter. "That's enough to cover all three rooms."

"Even if it wasn't, it isn't like it would matter anyway," the barkeeper answered. "Choose any room you wish."

"Thanks."

Once the kids filed out of the room, Master gathered up the silver coins, counting them to make sure they were real. His fingers brushed on one with a slight nick on the side, which caused him to frown again. Wasn't the same nicked coin that he had given Shirogane earlier?

* * *

Shirogane groaned pitifully as he held his aching head. Where was he, anyway? Oh, right. He had gotten attacked. He cast about for his sword, and saw it laying next to its sheath nearby. Sighing with relief, he slid the blade back into its proper place, and leaned on it for support.

Right now, he was feeling a bit weak-kneed, but he could handle it. The sky was almost completely dark overhead, so he must have been knocked out for a few hours. Great. Master wasn't going to be happy. At least there weren't any customers that would be demanding food, anyway.

A brisk night breeze ghosted right through Shirogane's white shirt, chilling him to the bone. Did those kids take his coat? It didn't appear to be laying anywhere, so they must've stolen it. Damn. Master had probably payed a lot for it.

The silver-haired man brushed the dirt from his clothes and prepared to make his way back to the Bar Still. He walked out of the alley, moving slowly in order not to make his concussion worse.

A sudden scream tore through the quiet night. So much for Shirogane taking his time. He released his sword from its sheath again and ran in the direction of the Bar Still.


End file.
